PewDiePie Cry: Haunted House
by Sylvano
Summary: They wake up in a manor. One just like in Amnesia. None of the two has any idea how they got in there, even less how to get out. And as it seems, someone else would rather they never find the exit...
1. Chapter 1

I wake up slowly. My head hurts and I can hear my ears buzz. I sit up with my eyes closed, every one of my muscles complaining as I use them. I feel vertigo, and I stay sat for a moment, until I open my eyes. I am in the middle of a corridor. The style reminds me of the manors in Amnesia. What am I even doing here? The last thing I remember...

The last thing I remember is Marzia telling me she was going out for a moment, then... Ah, my head... it hurts to think. What was next...? Ah, yes. Cry. I was doing some co-op with Cry. I'm not sure what game. We played an episode, then... then we said farewell to the Broarmy, yes. Then I closed my internet, and... and... I don't know.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Shit, the thunder freaked me out. I can feel my heart beat so fast... And, why is it so dark around here? I don't like it. Better find a way out.

I get up, despite the opinion of my body, and reel a bit before I find my balance. I look left, then right, resting on the wall behind me. Where to go, where to go... Both ways the corridor seems endless. I can distinguish some luminosity on the left, but I don't want to go there, because it's red, and if I've learned something from horror games, it's that red light is always bad news. Along with the Barrels, the Statues and the Bros.

So, I turn my head to the right, and, with a heavy sigh and a wince as I leave the wall, I venture toward the obscurity lurking that way.

***

How many corners have I turned? I lost the count. Why are there so many? I'm already fed up of this. The silence is oppressive. I can almost hear the rain outside. Also, why aren't there any windows? Maybe I'm not any near an outer wall. Yes, that would make sense. And... how big IS this place? And, why is it so dark? Why isn't there anybody? Why-What was that? I heard a sound from a bit behind me.

I turn toward it and back off. I don't want to go check... But what if it's somebody else, in the same situation as I? I have to be certain. I walk slowly to it, making as little noise as I can. On my left, there is a closed door. Strange. I could have sworn there was none when I passed there just a second ago.

I gather up my frail courage and place my hand on the knob. My heart is pounding so loudly I fear it will alert some unseen danger. I try to turn the handle, and it gives way easily. Unlocked. Is it good or bad?

I ajar the door slowly, trying to peek inside.

"Hello? Hello?"

No answer. I open the door a bit more, until it is fully opened. The room looks like a janitor's office. Somebody is lying on the chair, all sprawled out. I think the man is sleeping. I can't be sure in this dim light, but I don't think he's too old. Maybe it's one of the maintainers of this building. In front of him, an old computer is open, but it only gives away some tiny light. Nothing is displayed on the screen. It's fully black.

I walk hesitantly to the man. It doesn't seem like he heard me. I walk up to the left side of the seat, and look at his face. Or, should I say, to his mask. It covers all his face. It is a face-shaped one, white as a ghost and with only two dots and a line to form a poker face. Under it, I can make out a slightly tanned skin. His hair is short and brown, and his clothes are winter's ones. He seems dead. Oh, wait, no, I can see his torso move slowly from his breathing. He's asleep. Maybe I should wake him up. Okay, let's do that.  
I move my hand closer to his shoulder, and place it slowly on it. He doesn't' react. I shake him a bit. Still no reaction. I get my hand back, and try whispering:

"Hey... Hey..."

Nothing seems to work. So, I decide to combine both, and as I 'hey' him, I shake his  
shoulder a bit more violently than last time.

Right away, he grabs my forearm with his right hand, clutching much.

"AAAHHH!"

As I cry out in fear, he leaves my arm alone and pushes the chair away from me in an impulse. He hits the wall opposite to me with a 'oof'.

As I back up a bit in caution, I stare at him and he looks at me. Or at least I think he looks at me, for his mask is aimed my way. After a tense silence many minutes long, I hear the other man's voice, a bit muffled by the piece of disguise set upon his face:

"Pewdie...?"

I frown as I recognize my Youtube alias. Who is this person? How does he know me? And where have I heard that voice from?

"Yes... Who are you? Why do I feel like I know you?"

A long silence extends again between us, only punctuated by the computer's buzzes. I can hear my own and his breathing as he seems to gather his thoughts. It's hard to say with this mask and the dim light. After several minutes again, he talks again:

"I can't believe this..."

"What?"

"Pewdie, it's me, Cry."

"What...?"

That doesn't make sense. Why... How...

"That's not possible."

"I don't think we're dreaming. Or else we're making the same, creepy dream."

"Where... where are we?"

"I don't' know... It looks like some kind of school..."

"No..." I answer. "Outside it looks more like some kind of manor."

At these thoughts, he reaches for his chin and thinks out loud.

"Hm... Strange..." He looks at me. I can almost see his grimace as he comments "It makes me think of a horror game's scenario."

A shiver runs down my spine at this thought.

"I hope you're wrong."

"I do, too." He gets up. "But, for now, let's consider it is."

He walks toward the desk he was sat sleeping in front of when I found him. He opens the drawers one after the other, and finds a flashlight. He turns to me and shows it triumphantly.

"At least we got some light."

He opens it. The ray brightens up the surroundings, but after a few seconds, it flickers and dies. Cry opens and closes it a few times before commenting:

"Oh. Nevermind."

He keeps on looking in the drawers, but finds nothing else. I keep staring at him as he moves around. After some minutes of this, he stops and looks at me.

"Is everything alright?"

"Could you... get your mask off? It kind of creeps me out..."

"What mask?" He asks, clueless.

"Your poker face mask. It's somehow freaky."

"My 'poker face mask'...? I don't..." does he start saying as he reaches for his face. Then,  
when he feels the rubber under his fingers, he stops. "What the..."

He moves his hand to try and feel the side of the thing. After a few seconds he freezes.

"Pewdie..."

"What?"

"I can't find the sides..."

"What...?"

He stares at me from under the poker face.

"There are no borders..."

"That's not... Wait, I'll get it off for you."

I walk to him, and place myself behind him. I can't see a thing, so I place my hands in  
his hair to find the band. After some time, Cry asks:

"You found it?"

"No..."

I don't want to make the conclusion. Please, tell me I am just bad at searching...

"No. No."

Cry moves away from me and turns around.

"It's... It's stuck." He starts flailing some bit. "How come- Why-...?" He calms down. He  
whimpers: "Shit."

Then, he walks to the door I used to get in here, the flashlight still in his hand - why does he still have it? - and turns to me.

"Let's get out of here, Pewdie."

He opens the door. Before crossing it, he turns around a last time.

"My name's Ryan, by the way."

"Felix."

"Alright, Felix, we gotta find a way out before it REALLY turns into a horror game."

We both exit the room.


	2. Chapter 2

I look around, taking my surroundings in. All over the walls, ornaments and unlit candles are sprawled. The corridor extends right and left, and the richness of the environment is almost gross.

"You were right. It really looks like some kind of manor."

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

The door just slammed close behind us with a bang, startling me and freaking Pewdie out. I turn around to look at it.

The wall is plain. The door has disappeared, leaving no trace of its former presence behind. What is with this building…?

"W-we better get moving."

"Right." I answer, before looking at Felix. "Where did you come from?"

He points to our right.

"From there. When I woke up, I was in a similar corridor, and since there was red light on my left, I aimed right. I turned a few corner."

"…and you found me."

"Yeah. I was walking when a ruckus echoed behind me and… all."

I look to the left.

"Let's continue exploring your aimed at direction then."

We get on moving, and walk. Felix looks behind us every two seconds. From time to time, I think I hear mice, or voices, but whenever I stop to listen more closely, with the movement quickly followed by Pewdie, only the silence echoes. So much stillness is disheartening.

After something like an hour, we reach a crossroad of corridors. Three options are offered to us: turning right or left, or going straight ahead.

"Where should we go?" I ask as I turn to my friend.

He seems lost deep in his thoughts, singing.

"Pewdie…?"

He doesn't react. He keeps on humming his child hymn, paying me no attention. After a few seconds, he stops and looks at me, pointing left.

"This way."

He takes the lead, seeming all mighty and proud. He turns around and waves at me.

"Come on."

I start moving, catching up to him easily.

"That's an… interesting way of choosing where to go."

"It's a children's refrain I learned in my early years. It's useful when I don't know where to or what to choose."

We get back at walking in this new corridor which is so similar to the last. A new atmosphere surrounds us, as Pewdie seems more cheerful than before the junction. He looks at me square in the eye, and doesn't seem as spooked by the mask I am forced to wear, even though I still feel some kind of malaise.

I reach up to my face, still unwilling to fully acknowledge its presence. If not by my hands touching it, there is no way for me to feel it on my face. It's like I'd be bare-faced. I can even feel the air touch my skin, and no light seems filtered by any sort of material. I really don't get this.

This corridor doesn't take long before leading us to a more open ground. In fact, as soon as we turn the first corner, we see a bit ahead an opening of some sort a bit further.

"Isn't it lit up there?" tries Pewdie.

"I think, yes."

We don't exchange any more thoughts as we keep on walking toward the source of the light. As we draw nearer to the opening, we begin to feel vibrations run up our legs. It's as if an earthquake was hitting at intervals. I can see Felix's stress build up, and, I have to admit, mine does as well.

We reach the opening's edge, and I sneak a look up left. As my eyes lay on a man's back, I open my mouth.

Wait. Where is his head? How come… How come I can't see it? It's can't be dead, it moves around. So, it has to be somewhere.

The thing turns heavily around, as if it was checking who was following it.

"Shit."

I get my head back under cover, and stare at Pewdie. In the end, I did find its head. If we can consider it is one. It has a unique eye in the middle of the chest, topping an enormous mouth filled with blade-like teeth.

"What's wrong, Cry?"

"Better not go that way."

"Why-" he starts as he moves his head to look.

He freezes at the sight of the beast, and I see him open his mouth. I grab him by the head, placing my hand on his mouth, and drag him back. I motion him to stay silent as I give a glance at the beast once again.

Our three eyes meet. I feel a chill run down my spine, and watch frozen as its blue eye precisely focuses on me. It opens its mouth fully in a silent cry, and starts running toward me. I turn back over to Pewdie:

"RUN."

No sooner said than done, I obey to my own order and leap forward. I look behind, and see Felix right behind me, white in fear, followed not much further back by the thing.

The first corner comes around and I turn it at full speed, almost dropping to my knees because of the speed. I pedal on the floor as fast I can and manage to stay standing, avoiding Pewdie by a centimeter as he bypasses me. I soon gather up my speed back, and start running full speed again as I hear the creature smash into the wall before turning and charging toward us again.

I see Pewdie looking back, inducing me to do the same. I turn my head and see the thing drawing nearer. I turn my head back and-

"WHaaa!"

Something grabs me by the shoulder and drags me out of the way of the beast. I roll on the floor, and hear a door close from where I was at a second ago. I get back to my senses fast, and sit, facing Felix and the now closed door, hearing the tremendous stepping of the golem fade outside.

"You okay, Ryan?"

I'm out of breath, and he is too, but all in all, I think we made it through quite good.

"I think we're safe now."

But he is not paying me anymore attention. His stare is on the room behind me. I turn around, and freeze.


	3. Chapter 3

"How can a kitchen be so big?"

I would think the same. How can this room be so big?! It doesn't even seem human-sized. I close my eyes in disbelief.

When I open them back again, the room has a more plausible size. Cry's head moves back and forth at me, then the kitchen, and at me again.

"Did you see this?" I try.

He nods, staring at the room. He gets up, and starts looking around. Instinctively, I aim for the fridge, and open it.

"Hey, Cry, come see!"

I can see apples, meat, pastas… as if somebody just left. I look up to Ryan, grinning.

"We got- What the hell!?"

I back up from the open fridge in disgust. In a second, everything rotted into a brown, blue and white mesh of different textures.

"This place is abnormal," states Cry as he looks.

I think I had noticed.

I close the door to the refrigerator and move away to look somewhere else. This time, I am the one called.

"Pewdie…"

I rejoin him and look up to where he stares.

_"Don't close the doors."_

This is what is written in the cupboard's farthest side. I can't make out what it's written with.

"What can this mean?"

"I have no idea."

I open the next storage cabinet. Another message is in there.

_"There is no turning back."_

I feel a chill run me down. I don't like this. Such messages never are a good sign. Ever.

"This is not right…"

I close the cabinet's doors violently and turn around. Cry gets up from a drawer, holding two knifes up.

"That should help."

He offers me one. I don't quite see the use to it – how could I use it against the THING? – but I still accept it with a 'thanks'.

Nothing more was to be found, so we decided to get out.

Cry opens the door slowly, checking for the creature that had been after us. I back him up, checking our six. I grab on my knife so hard my knuckles are white. Halfway through his movement, he stops an instant, then slams it open. He steps outside, and turns his head at me, aiming his mask toward me, motionless.

I follow him, cagey.

"What the fuck…?"

The corridor around us is brightly illuminated. The corridor no longer seems endless. In fact, now the surroundings look like a school. I can't stop my head from coming and going a way then another. There are windows lined up along the wall, letting the moon's light in. Outside is some kind of courtyard, with a forest at its rear.

The main light is not coming from the outside though, as most of the lights, except those who flicker, are open. It is so bright compared to the manor's lighting that it's almost painful.

I hear a click behind me, and turn around to see the door closed. It gives me the creeps.

"Why do they all close by themselves?"

"Something is off with those doors."

I shiver at the thought of the messages in the kitchen. I look at Cry, but he doesn't. He's studying the surroundings, standing very straight. He turns to me, and I can't help but freak out a bit at the sight of his mask staring at me.

"We should move."

I nod, unable to talk, my throat too sore from fear. I hate this place. I hate this situation. I hate being forced to do something to get out of here. I think I would have broken down already, were I not accompanied.

We take off to the left, classroom doors to our right, windows on the other side. I can't help but feel like something's off right now and here, specifically.

"Don't you feel like we're followed?" I ask after a few minutes of walking up and down corridors, shooting a glance sideways to Ryan by me.

He keeps on walking, turning his head a bit to look back at me. Then he tilts his head back forward, and passes a hand in his hear.

"I don't know", he sighs, "I can't seem to think."

He looks at the knife he holds in his hand, making me involuntarily do the same with mine. He whispers:

"This is crazy…"

He looks back up and stops. It takes me little time to do the same, before I follow his line of sight.

We're at a dead-end, with a gymnasium's door right in front of us. I look at him, but he ignores me and goes to open it. He peeks inside, then stares at me.

"Seems like it's really a gymnasium."

He gets inside, and holds the door open until I get to it. I know it's not out of politeness, as much as fear of us two being separated. This nightmare is hard enough to cope with already without the both of us having to search for each other in pitch-black ambiances.

I get in the room, quickly followed by Cry. It seems like a perfectly normal gymnasium; maybe a bit big, but there is/was probably many people in this school. Even though, I can't help but feel unsettled. Ever of our steps makes the floor creak, as if it was made of wood. The lights are on, but only one works fine. Most of them are dead and a quarter dozen flickers, more often closed than open.

"What's with that sound…?"

I listen up and hear the mentioned sound. It's somewhat similar to a wind's, blowing right and left, without any pattern I can determine. It feels as if it would be moving to surround us and keep us where we are. I try to follow its movements, but whenever I think I got it, I hear it again behind me.

"Fuc-rrr"

I turn around at the sound and see Cry, trying to break free from some kind of shadow. It's coming from the darkest corner of the room, hooking itself around Ryan's neck and right arm, immobilizing his knife and dragging him toward the darkness as it chokes him.

I can't move a muscle, battery-less robot as a decoration, until a crazy woman's laugh bursts out of nowhere and starts echoing endlessly on the walls of the gymnasium. At the same time, darkness tentacles start crawling toward me as well, making me react. I get a better grip on my knife and jump in.

The tentacles don't try to get me, but to make me walk away while it drags Cry. Their texture is barbell-like and they whip me to hold me off. But I see Ryan doing his best to struggle out of there and I know I can't leave him behind. So I wave my knife in front of me, protecting my face with my other arm. Sometimes I touch one of them and the laughs changes for an instant in a howl of anger and pain as it withdraws, quickly replaced by another one and followed by the return of the annoying sound.

It takes me what feels like ages to reach Cry, working my way through the forest of material darkness, but I end up by his side. Still protecting myself best I can, I plant my knife with all my might in the shadow stifling him. I leave the handle as a banshee screech echoes in answer, full of anger and spite as it withdraws. I grab Ryan's arm and pulls him out of the trap, running for the door. All I can think of is getting out of here, fast as possible.

I can feel him stagger behind me, but I don't stop, because I can also _hear _the thing follow us at top speed, angered and hungry. I reach the door and open it, shove Cry past it and pass it. I trip over Ryan, that had stumbled to the floor, weakened from the attack. I land hard, and hear the door close by itself once again.


	4. Chapter 4

I hear Pewdie get back up as I try to get a grip back on reality. I can still feel the tentacles that were wrapped around me, as if I had been stained by them. I open my eyes and stare upwards, seeing nothing. At first, I think it's because my eyes can't focus, but then I hear Felix comment on how dark the place is.

I motion a bit my limbs to check if I'm alright, making me realize I hold onto something. I bring the object nearer to my face, revealing the knife, this same knife I had when I entered the gymnasium, that one I couldn't defend myself with, the one I kept on holding even when Pewdie carried me out of there. And all I can do when I see it is laugh.

I laugh like someone about to cry, like someone who wants to leave, like a man who's so near the limit of insanity there is only a step left until he falls down the pit to it. I double over, the knife resting on top of my head as my other arm hold my tummy. I keep on laughing and laughing without being able to stop myself, until I hear Pewdie sit down beside me.

"Are you alright, Cry?"

These words stop me square and I stare at Felix. I feel my eyes fill up with tears and I crumble. I grab onto my legs with all my might, trying to protect myself from anything that could come near. I know Felix is right by me, but I feel like I'm alone in this nightmare. It takes me a few minutes to regain some bit of my composure, and even then, I keep my head buried in my knees. When he realizes I stopped whining, Pewdie touches my shoulder:

"Uhm, Ryan?"

I look up at him and stare. His face is distorted by surprise and amazement. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish, making me let out a forced laugh. He blinks a few times before he is able to say what is weighing on his mind.

"…your mask…"

"What of it..?"

I touch my face in incomprehension, moving my fingers on the skin, until I realize it is _skin_ I am touching, and not rubber. Unable to believe it, I let go of the knife, which fall to the floor without a sound, and use both of my hands to check myself. After some minutes of this game, I stop and look at Pewdie. We exchange a surprised look and I feel the tears invade my eyes again, this time in relief.

"I can't believe it."

"Well that's at least one good thing" smiles Felix.

I nod and look around, my mind a bit less heavy. I frown as I recognized the surroundings with my eyes now accustomed to the light.

"A forest…!?"

Pewdie looks around and shrugs.

"It's still better than the manor, I'd say."

I can see he's crept out by everything as much as I am, but by some weird mechanism, he seems _adapted_ to our situation. I imitate him and stand up, grabbing the knife again and hold it out toward Felix.

"Take it."

"Why?"

"You're better at using it than I am." I comment with a doleful laugh as I reach out to my neck and rub it.

He examines me a moment before accepting it without a comment. He turns around and looks at the path we have to follow. The trees are so dense on each side of it I don't think one could get past them without a machete, and even then… I turn my glance to where we came from and my eyes fall on a blank wall of rocks bearing no trace of the door through which we passed.

I turn my attention back to Pewdie and we start walking, following the trail.

After a few hours of strolling in the dark and the grass, we reach a clearing. The shape of it is perfectly round and the trees seem to create a shelter with their branches for those who would come across it. I look around, checking the surroundings to make sure a creature is not hidden anywhere near, but I can't see anything.

I hear Felix sit down behind me and turn around. He looks intensely at me.

"We should lay down here for a while. It's peaceful right now, so it would be as good to get some sleep."

I walk nearer to Pewdie and sit in front of him with an exhausted sigh. My body is not especially tired, but my mind is worn out by the last events.

"I'll guard first, 'k?" He continues. "You need sleep right now, or you'll fall to the floor in tiredness."

I think about it a bit, then I lay down.

"Wake me up when it'll be your turn."

"Sure."

I close my eyes and in an instant, I stop thinking.

I don't know how longer this will go on. He was so close to breaking down not long ago, I fear for his mental health. I don't know how I manage it myself, in fact. This place is so abnormal; it's a miracle I haven't collapsed already.

_Did you think you could escape?_

I get my head up and look around.

"Who's there?"

I hear a shrieking laugh

_Did you really think it? _The laugh resonates again. This time, I know where it comes from: it's inside my head._ There is NO escape. All you did was lengthen your agony, of the both of you._

I grab my temples, trying to get rid of it.

_You will kill each other slowly, without even realizing it. I will have my blood, wish it or not._

I feel the presence retract. Somehow, I am as out of breath as if I had just ran a marathon. I feel a shiver run down my spine as I recall the thing's words. I can feel my face turning white and green in fear.

When Pewdie wakes me up, I feel way better than before I had lied down. My moral is higher, almost good, and my sight is clear. He hands me the knife, then he lies down in turn. I noticed his white face, but I guess he's really near the collapsing too. After all that's going on, I could very well understand it.

I sit down by my friend's side, the knife in my hand, and I look at it. How had he been able to save me from a death threat with a thing as little as this petty thing? It seems impossible. I can't-

What was that? I think I saw something white at the limit of my sight, but when I turned to look at it, it wasn't there. Could I be still tired?

_Are you the mask..? Or is the mask you..?_

I look behind me to catch the sight of the woman whispering in my ear, but nothing is there. I look around, now on full alert, doing my best to stay calm. I feel like I know this voice, but from where?

_Don't you recall?_

A flash of black darkens my vision for an instant and I fall on my butt. I know where SHE comes from now.

_That's right…_

I see a white mask appear, one that's right like the ones I use on internet to personify myself.

_Pretty mask you had there. I like it. _Its lines start distorting. _But what about we try another look?_ The features end up into a Mad Cry face. The mask seems to be laughing at me. _ I prefer it like that. Don't you think it's gorgeous like this?_ It changes again, turning into a Lucius Cry face. _This one is not bad either._

The mask disappears and I look around. I jump back as a Mad Cry mask appears a centimeter from my face and tries to bite me. It disappears right after. A Lucius Cry appears on the other side and giggles devilishly. Without a thought, I try to slash it, but I only end up splitting clouds of smoke. Two more appear on each side of me, one Poker Face and one Mad. I try to stab both, without any better result. It goes on for many waves of it, without me having any effect on them.

In the end, I see a Poker Face Mask in reach, near the floor. I stab down to get it, and for once, I touch it. I'm about to let out a victory howl, when I hear the Woman's laugh once again, as the white mask under my blade dissolves slowly. Under me, I see Pewdie, with his eyes wide open, staring at me in panic. He stays still, and I wonder why, until I spot the place where my knife landed. It planted right between his chest and his right arm, grazing both. A tiny trail of blood is already flowing down from the slashes.

I scramble away in a hurry, feeling my face whiten in fear of what I did and what could have happened. Pewdie grabs the knife's handle and uproots it from the ground. Then he looks at me, then the knife, then at me again, unable to believe what just happened. I can feel my panicked breath flowing in and out as I try to calm myself down.

"What happened…?"

I meet Felix's eyes. I see nothing else in there than pure curiosity and worries. There is no trace of judging what I just did at all.

"The dark thing… the mask…" I try to say, unable to sort out the words I want to say from those I don't want to.

"Calm down."

I obey and breathe deeply, staring at the wound I gave to my friend a moment ago. Then, I try to tell him what happened as best I can. He listens to me until the very end, not asking any question.

"I see… So it was not a daydream I had, in the end" he tried to joke before telling me his own adventures with the Voice.

The words make me shiver in anxiety when he tells me about them, and I get up.

"I want to get out of here."

Pewdie gets on his feet too.

"As do I." He turns to the entrance to where we haven't yet explored. "Let's go."

We start walking again, hoping to find an exit to this nightmare.


	5. Chapter 5

It took us some more hours before we reached another clearance. There, we see a tiny house. I really don't like the darkness that seems to be emanating from that building. It gives me the chills. I stop at the limit of the forest, feeling some uneasiness. Cry stops and looks at me, locking our glances.

"Is something wrong?"

"Don't you feel something is wrong?"

He chuckles.

"I've been feeling like that since the beginning."

"No, I mean… Right here and now."

Ryan looks around in incomprehension then looks back at me.

"Not… really."

"Maybe it's just me…"

I still feel kind of stressed, but I get over it and follow Cry as he heads into the clearance. We have only walked two or three steps when I hear a crow's call. I look around, unable to make out where it came from exactly. Ryan keeps on forcing me to continue walking. I think he didn't hear it.

The call resonates again. This time, it's quickly followed by another one, then another, until it comes from everywhere. Ryan starts looking around, making me know he has heard it now. We both stop, looking around to try and find where those cries come from. Soon as we halt, the silence falls again, heavy and creeping up our backs.

"Fuck! Get down!"

I jump on Cry, making us both stumble to the floor. The crow that had been aiming for Ryan's head flies over us before getting away, croaking in anger. I am about to say something when all the crows cry out at the same time. I bring m y hands to my ears as I sit up, trying to deafen the noise. I see Cry wince at the painfully loud concert.

I can hear wings flap as a literal _cloud_ of black takes off from all around the limit of the clearance. I look at Ryan to check if he saw it, and by the whiteness of his face, I'd say he did. Our eyes meet as he turns his head to my side and without saying a word, we agree and take off as fast as we can towards the house.

I hear behind me the angered croaks of the crows as they understand what we are doing. I hear the wings flap all the more faster as they try to catch up to us, shouting menacingly. I see Cry stumble and stagger as he takes the lead of the fleeing. He reaches the door and turns its knob, banging it open. I enter right after and stop to turn around and slam it shut.

I hear the sounds of birds hitting the wood, unable to slow themselves down fast enough. Croaking echoes outside as their brothers scratch onto the door and the walls with their claws every so often. I catch glimpses of them flying around the building through the half-blind window on the wall to my right. It goes on for some time before I hear them moving some bit away, understanding that they won't be able to catch us like that.

The sound of their flapping wings subsides slowly before the silence falls again on the clearance and the house. I suddenly realize I am panting from fear and the effort. I try to slow my breath down as I turn around to look at Cry. He's no longer there. It seems that, while I was being crept out by the crows, Cry just decided to take off and explore the house.

I start walking away from the entrance door and looking around. The place is quite cosy, I'd have to say. It almost looks like a countryside habitation's insides. Maybe a bit richer, but that's all.

"P-Pewdie! Come here!"

Ryan's voice came from the right, and I aim my stroll towards him. As I cross a door, I see him in front of me, but before I can try to say a thing, he throws a deadly frightened glance at me and points at the roof. I look up, wondering what freaked him out so much.

"Shit…"

Out of a hole in it, three quarters of the torso of what I believe to have been a man sticks out. Its skin is dry and heavily wrinkled, as if all water in him had been drained out. The only remaining hair is of a sick and stained yellow. I'm not even sure if it means the person had been blond, or just that time changed its color enough to make it look like that. I walk around and I freeze as my eyes meet with that grimace of a face it has. The mouth is wide open on dark, broken and half-smashed out teeth, which are accompanied by a rotten piece of flesh as a tongue. The nose's cartilage has long since disappeared, and only two holes remain to attest of where it had been. They are the echo of those empty, pus-filled carved rounds that stand as eyes.

I wince in disgust as I see it, backing up with a shiver running down my spine. Has it been stuck in here for days before dying after having ran out of food, because of the crows awaiting outside? Or is it the cause of the crows staying around, as if they were the protectors of its burial? One option or the other, it's freaky as hell.

"Hey, Felix, come see what I got!"

I look away from the horrid face and move my glance onto Cry. I walk around the body, careful not to touch it at any moment, and I move closer to stand by Ryan's side. He points up still, and at first I don't get what he's trying to show me. But then as I turn my head to ask what it is that got him so excited, I catch the shining of a piece of metal up in the hole where the man in the roof comes from. I get my eyes back on where I think it is and squint a bit to see better.

"a gun…"

I can't believe it. Why… How… How is that even possible?! I turn to Cry, and he smiles back to me in triumph.

"We have to get upstairs to grab it."

He nods and we separate to look around the house. I don't find stairs, but I do find a door. When I open it, I see darkness, and wooden stairs leading down to a tunnel with rock walls. As I am looking at it, I hear someone walk behind me and I throw a glance behind me.

"Shit-"

I fully turn around and take a step backward at the vision of a walking skeleton with a gun in hand heading towards me. I lose my balance and begin falling, but the bony man reaches a hand out and grabs my shirt before I can fall down in the cellar. As it does it talks, and I recognize Cry's voice.

"Careful!"

As those words come out of his mouth, I stop hallucinating and all that white gets covered by muscles and skin. I blink a few times to make sure everything is back to normal, and it seems like it.

"Are you okay?"

Cry looks at me and I can see the worry in his eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay now. I saw you as a skeleton for a second."

He furrows his brows but doesn't comment. He doesn't have to. We both know what this means; that _thing _from the Gymnasium is still after us.

After an awkward moment of both of us wondering if there would be any moment when we'd reach the limit of this nightmare, Cry holds out the pistol he's holding.

"There. I got it from upstairs."

"Keep it. I already have the knife"

He shakes his head.

"No way I'll do that. Not after the clearance's accident. I could kill you out of hallucinating."

His face is full of fear, of himself and of that curse we got after us. I sigh.

"Fine. But you take the knife."

He doesn't argue on that one, even though I can see that he is worried about even that.

I turn around, gun in hand, and I stare at the dark hole underground that was behind me.

"I think that corridor would be our best chance out."

Ryan comes closer and looks at it.

"Alright. We have to find a lamp or something like that."

I put a piece of furniture to keep it open – I learned out of those other doors – and we start looking around the house. After some minutes, we have to admit it to ourselves; there is nothing do light up that corridor in the house. We stand in front of the entrance to it, and none of us talks for a long time. Then, without concerting each other, I step in there first, followed right after by Cry, which frees the door. I reach the solid ground as the door finishes closing and darkness wraps itself around us.


	6. Chapter 6

I reach out and grab Pewdie's hand. He tightens his grip on it, and we start walking ahead. There is no way I'll let go of it; I don't want to wind up alone in this place of nightmare. I can't help but flex my other hand on the knife's handle, feeling it become harder to grab onto as my hands slowly become clammy from the stress's effect. After a few minutes of walking in this corridor, almost blind, I start being able to make out some vague shapes. I make the difference between the floor and the walls without having to scratch my blade against it. It's for the best; the sound was way too similar to a banshee's cries for my liking.

As we keep walking, my eyes wander around. They find very little to hold onto in this almost absolute darkness. From time to time, the same question pops up in my mind; why is the ground so soft? It feels like I would be walking on wet sand. Sometimes I hear crunches under my feet, like a branch snapping in halves. I really wonder what it is…

After what feels like hours or even days of barely visible surroundings explored in total silence from the both of us, after yet another corridor and the corner at its end, I see something flash for a second far ahead. My head turns to look at Felix but all I see in the dark is the vague shape of his face. It feels a bit like looking at Slenderman. Nevertheless, I gather my courage and my breath and ask with a voice so tiny I almost don't hear myself:

"You saw that…?"

Pewdie nods in answer and I glance again towards the strange happening. Felix gets back to walking, and I follow reluctantly. A few meters farther, we reach another of those numerous corners, and Pewdie looks around the corner. Without waiting, I do the same.

I don't see anything at all. Or at least, I don't until I realize I am looking at the most enormous room I saw in my life. The room goes, by the tiny bit I can make out, for meters each way. The shape is that one of a half sphere. Slowly, side by side, we walk towards it. We enter it, and I stop. I look around around, letting go of Pewdie's hand in amazement. I stand by a column, and I can make out three other that with the first seem to hold the ceiling up.

I hear a strange sound coming from behind me, and I begin to turn around when the ground shakes once, and I see a few mini rocks fall. Unable to express the fear that grabs onto me suddenly, I fix my stare to the door as a second, more powerful shaking of the ground takes on. I hear a great cracking sound, and a pile of rocks booms in place to block the door we came in here from.

Right after, iher /i laugh echoes throughout the room as all the place becomes illuminated by torches I hadn't seen before. I instinctively cover from the over-bright light, but I take my arm away right away when I hear a scratching sound. My eyes settle on the floor, and I freeze.

"Hu-human-…"

Human flesh. The floor is completely made of flesh, wet, rotten and of a sick red flesh. It all looks like it was shoved in a blender and puked in here. Some bones come out at random places, jaws, clavicles, ribs, tibias… they all seem fragile as glass. It's probably what was making the strange branches' sounds. I feel my stomach jump and writhe as bile crawls up my throat. I can feel I'm on the verge of throwing up. Feeling my head go light, I extend a hand to hold onto the column by me, only to move it away lightspeed when I realize it's made of the same material.

I back up a few steps and stare at the column in disbelief, and my eyes widen when I see waves appear on its surface. Without any other sound than my own accelerating breath and my violently loud heartbeats, a hand crawls out of it. Its nails are yellow, and one of the fingers is missing. Its color is the same as the one of the floor and the column, barely distinguishable from it. It takes hold of the column, and starts to drag out a body, torso first. I back up slowly, unable to believe what I see.

"Pewdie…"

I hear his breath stop for a second as his eyes fall on the column and the thing crawling out of it. We both watch as the thing finally frees itself from the flesh that kept it prisoner. As I look at it, I jump when I realize it is the exact same thing as that dead body we saw in the house just before.

It turns its empty putrefied eye holes towards us and cocks its head to the side in a surprisingly fluid move. Its mouth opens and a few seconds pass. I am starting to wonder what is happening when I feel a chilling wind pass between me and Felix. I can feel the temperature go almost a dozen Celsius degrees down as ice appears before it starts to melt again. The wind enters the dead from the mouth, and a wicked and distorted smile appears on what is left of the walking dead's mouth.

"iWe meet again./i"

The voice coming out from the body is very feminine, but there are some very grave notes, as if a man was talking at the same time than the first voice.

"iThis time, there is no escaping. bYou will die/b/i"

And on those words, ice surrounds the thing, creating an armor. The dead's head moves back into place with a crack, and it starts walking towards us. I hear the Woman's voice in my head, repeting iyou will die…/i endlessly. At the back of the thing's eyes, a blue glitter has settled, telling of the ghost's presence in this body.

I snap out of my stare when I realize it's coming right at us. I grab Pewdie's hand, and I start to run away from the dead. I look behind just long enough to see iit/i get faster into a jog before it accelerates and starts running. I feel my eyes widen and my face go white, and I go even faster. I feel Felix stumble and stagger behind me, but I don't slow down, because I know it would be both out deaths.

I look around and finally, my eyes settle on a wooden door. I angle our run towards it and a bit before we reach it, I howl to Pewdie:

"Shoot its leg!"

Rapidly I hear a shot and the falling of a mass on the floor. We reach the door, and I open it. I shove Pewdie past it and as I reach out for the door I banged open, my eyes settle for a second on the dead that is getting back on its feet. It looks up and a howl gets out of its throat, five voices at a time, angered:

"iNooooo!/i"

I shut the door. The sound of the word stops and I look behind. We have been Transported again. It looks a lot like the manor where Felix woke up. Right and left, lit down torches are on the walls, awaiting for one to bring light in here. The corridor is going straight, leading to a staircase.

I help Pewdie get back up to his feet and I am about to say something when he opens his mouth first and says:

"I'm tired…"

His voice breaks and I stare at him, unable to reassure him. I know of what he is tired. But what would be the use of saying it? We both know what is tiresome in here. He looks at the pistol.

"Just before, I was shaking so much, I almost missed the thing's leg. And we'd have been dead."

He gets his glance back at me. I see his eyes very clearly, as if they were shining.

"I just- I'm tired."

Wait a minute. They ARE shining. I can see a blue glitter in them.

"Pewdie…"

He ignores me and goes on.

"I can't take any more. My nerves are cracking. I went through all I could. I'm tired of all this."

I extend a hand, but before I can stop him, he aims at his head from under his chin and pulls the trigger. The sound of the detonation is deafening, and when it stops echoing, I see Felix's body fall to the floor. I stay there, unable to believe what just happened. She… She made him suicide.

I don't know how long I stay there, until I gather my senses again and crouch. I close Pewdie's eyes and I grab his gun, my knife in the other hand. I get back up and without a glance back, I start walking towards the staircase. A song comes to my lips, and I can't hold it back, so I sing it:

"I will find the exit

No one will stop me

All I have to do

Is walk to it…"

It goes on and on, looping in my heads and in the air as I sing it. After the first staircase, I arrive to another corridor, and then another staircase. I only walk and climb for what feels like months, with the only company of the dancing notes in the atmosphere. As I arrive on yet another floor, I see a door at its end. I go to it at the same pace, mistrustful. When I reach it, I turn the knob, and open it.

The light floods in, making me whine in pain. After some seconds, I open my eyes again and see the outside. It's lighted, and I hear birds singing. In my surprise, I let go of the door, and it closes behind me. I turn around as it bangs, and I see its edges fade until it disappears. I feel my hands empty and realize both my weapons disappeared alongside the door.

When I finally understand I am back to the real world, my legs give up under me and I start crying. I cry of that happiness of finally being out of there, of having beaten that ghost and still being alive. But I also cry of having lost my friend, and of all the horrors I have had to see to get out of there.


End file.
